


Sunkissed (Someone like me)

by Zekticc



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe, Angst, Death, F/M, GIna and Ricky have powers, powers, worm - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:00:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24488626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zekticc/pseuds/Zekticc
Summary: When Gina moved to Salk Lake City she never expected to find anyone like her. Then came along Ricky Bowen, and her life changed...
Relationships: Big Red & Ashlyn Caswell, Ricky Bowen/Gina Porter
Comments: 3
Kudos: 27





	Sunkissed (Someone like me)

**Author's Note:**

> My second ever Rina story! Hope y'all enjoy it ~ Zekticc

Ricky remembers the first time he heard of them. He was in 6th grade, and he was doing homework by the couch when his mom had burst into the house.  
  
‘Honey, what’s wrong?’ His dad had asked, sensing his moms’ distress but she hadn’t responded, she simply turned the TV on and tuned into the local news channel.  
  
‘-ocal authorities are trying to stop the spread of the fires but it appears to be too late to salvage Salt Lake Eastern Elementary. Back to you Jim.’ The reporter lady on the TV had said before the broadcast had cut back to a shaken looking man, wearing a suit and tie.  
  
‘I’ve been told that over the 432 students in Salt Lake Eastern Elementary, 312 are confirmed dead and 80 seriously injured. The other 40 are yet to be found in the area,’ The man took a moment to wipe his eyes with the sleeve of his suit, clearing his throat before continuing. ‘This is the fourth such disaster to occur in the nation this month with many now questioning the President on what he is to do about the Helios threat…’  
  
He remembers his parents crying in front of the TV, holding onto him, hugging him like their life depended on it. He didn’t understand what was going on back then, or why they were so upset. It was only later that he realised that if he had been a year younger, still in Salt Lake Eastern, he most likely would have been just another casualty that day.  
  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Ricky Bowen, frankly, didn’t give a fuck. He rode his skateboard, hung out with Big Red and did whatever he wanted to. A benefit from having a Dad trying to be two parents at once. Somehow, he was given more freedom and more money. As far as he could tell, that was a win-win.  
He and Red rode into school on their skateboards, Ricky narrowly dodging a few people on the way in, smirking whenever they shrieked.  
  
‘I know you’re doing that on purpose.’ Big Red said to him as they walked side by side down the hallway.  
  
‘Doing what?’ Ricky asked, still smiling. Big Red merely shook his head in amusement as they continued down the halls.  
  
‘Todays the big day Red.’  
  
‘What, football try-outs? I didn’t know you were trying out-.’  
  
‘What? No dude, todays the day Nini and I finally get back to normal,’ Ricky sighed. ‘She texted me a few days ago.’  
  
‘Oh, what did she say?’ Red asked.  
  
‘ ‘Hey’.’  
  
‘Well that’s… good?’  
  
‘Yes dude. No ‘we need to talk’ or ‘I’ve got something to tell you’ just ‘Hey’.’ Ricky smiled at Red. ‘I’m telling you dude, we’ll be good as new in no time.’  
  
‘If you say so, but I don’t know man.’  
  
‘Trust me, you’ll see.’ Ricky said as the continued down the hall and it wasn’t long until they found the topic of their conversation.  
  
‘Yo Nini!’ Ricky called out as he saw the girl. Nini’s smile fell off her face as her and her friend, Kourtney, turned to look at him. He walked up to her, smiling even as she set her mouth into a grim line.  
  
‘Hey.’ He said.  
  
‘Hey… um can we talk?’ The smile fell off Ricky’s face as his eyebrows bunched together.

‘I met somebody else at camp.’ She continued.

‘Wait, is this a joke-.’

‘Still talking here,’ She interrupted his interruption and Ricky decided to ignore the ‘oh snap’ Kourtney said. ‘I met somebody at camp, and I didn’t look for it or mean for it to happen, but it did.’ She said. Ricky’s hurt must have shown on his face because he saw her eyes soften a bit as she looked at him.  
  
‘Look Ricky, you were the one who decided to break up, not me.’  
  
‘I said a break, not break up.’  
  
‘Yeah well, should’ve thought of something like this happening beforehand.’ She muttered as she brushed by him, Kourtney following along.  
  
Ricky stood in silence, staring at the empty space where Nini had stood.  
  
‘Dude are you okay?’ He could barely hear the question asked, as he felt his mind begin to strain.  
  
_Just breathe Bowen, breathe._ But even as he said it he could feel his mind begin to grasp at and start to bend the metal doors of the lockers beside him.  
  
_I’ve got to get out of here.  
  
_And without a word he pushed past Red and ran down the hall, pushing past anyone that was in his way till he burst out of the school doors and down the entrance.  
  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Gina remembers the first time she heard of them. She was 12 and she and her mother had been shopping at the local mall for clothes and school stuff.  
  
‘Gina, wait by the assistant’s desk, I’m just going to go try some clothes out ok?’ Her mother had told her and Gina had nodded obediently. She had asked her to do this before and Gina never failed. She loved seeing her mom’s proud look whenever Gina followed her words. It was as she was waiting by the assistants desk for her mom that it happened. People began to scream a few stores over and suddenly a crowd of people began running for the exit, all yelling at the top of their voices. Gina couldn’t make out much of what they were saying but there was one word that stood out pretty clear:  
  
_Helios_  
  
Gina didn’t know what that meant at the time. She was only twelve after all, how could she have. She remembers how the employees at the shop had hurriedly locked the doors and gathered everyone towards a safety area. She remembers all the parents huddled over their children, muttering quick prayers to god for protection and she remembers thinking about where her own mother was. And then as quickly as it had come, it was done. Her mother had found her afterwards, amidst the rest of the children and had gathered her up in her arms, picking her up for the first time in years, placing kiss after kiss on her face.  
  
‘You’re okay.’ Her mother kept on whispering with every kiss but Gina wasn’t focused on that. No, she was focused on the outside, and how every plant that was in the mall seemed to have suddenly died within a few minutes. She remembers thinking how weird it was for something that was healthy not a while ago was dead so soon afterwards. And asking herself:  
  
_Why do the tiles outside look like they’re melting?_  
  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
If Gina Porter was asked to describe herself she would only have one thing to say:  
  
She was a coward. She hid her true self from the world, too scared to reveal her true identity out of fear of the backlash it would bring. Not only to her but to her family. To her mom. And rightfully so. America in 2018 was no place for a Helios.  
  
She walked into her knew school with her black hoodie drawn up and her eyes down on the ground. She could feel everyone around her, the air moving as they shifted and turned every which way. It didn’t matter in the end, knowing where they were was enough, as she gracefully manoeuvred her way through the crowd of students and faculty around.  
  
_So many people around._ She thought, smelling the hundreds of different scents around, ingraining them to her memory. She felt a large surge of air blowing towards her and barely managed to move out of the way as a boy ran through the hallways, pushing past anybody that was unlucky enough to be in his path and out of the school.  
  
_Weird_ She thought as she continued to navigate her way through the halls. She could hear the whispers pass through the air as she walked on.  
  
_Hey did you watch yesterdays episode?  
  
Who’s that girl?  
  
Dude, back to school party at Madisons  
  
Come on Baby, don’t you think it’s time?  
  
Why is she wearing that ugly hoodie?  
  
I know right she looks like a freak.  
  
_Gina looked up and directly at the girls she knew were talking about her. They looked startled as she eyed all three of them, averting their eyes sheepishly. Gina scoffed and rolled her eyes and continued walking.  
  
_Do you think she could hear us?_  
  
‘Yes I can hear you!’ Gina yelled at the girls, startling the people around her. She could feel the air surrounding her, a slight breeze blowing through the hall as she restrained her powers.  
  
_I could take away their air, just for a few seconds, that would shut them up._  
She had to physically shake the thoughts away as she realised, she had been standing still in the hall for a few seconds. More than a few eyes were on her and Gina blushed, adjusted her hoodie and just kept walking.  
  
_You’re such an idiot Gina Porter._  
  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
_You’re such an idiot Ricky Bowen_ Ricky thought as he sat under the football field bleachers. The seats hid him away from the sun and more importantly other people.  
  
_I can’t believe I thought she would just take me back after I left her all summer_.  
  
He felt like punching something, so he did the next best thing. He splayed his hands and tore out a clump of dirt from the ground before hurling it a few meters away.  
  
_Well that didn’t make me feel any better._ He thought bitterly, staring at the hole he had just made. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.  
  
_I just want things to go back to normal. With me and Nini. With mom and dad._ He scoffed. He knew that would never happen. His dad was a wreck, the divorce transforming him into a shell of his past self, only focusing on work now, forgetting that he had an actual son, and only remembering when said son was in his face. And his mom was off in Chicago, also forgetting she had a son waiting for her in Utah.  
  
_Wait, mom, she’ll know what to do._  
  
He grabbed his phone from his bag and speed dialled her number, putting it up to his ear. He waited as the phone buzzed and buzzed and waited until the automated voice message came up.  
  
_‘The number your calling is not available right now.’_ The robotic voice said and Ricky was very tempted to throw the phone away and send it to Texas.  
  
_I wonder if I could actually do that._ _Afterall, I’ve had heard of some Helios who could do much more powerful things than Telekinesis.  
_  
Ricky sighed again and collapsed onto the grass, staring at the sky through the small gaps in the bleachers. He was tired anyway and he wasn’t ready to face Big Red and his questions. Not yet anyways.  
  
_Besides a nap never harmed anyone._  
  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
‘Now we’ve got a new addition to the class this year, would you like to introduce yourself?’ The teacher, Mr. Holland, said.  
  
‘I’m Gina Porter.’ She said. Mr Holland waited for her to add something but when it became apparent that she wasn’t going to he cleared his throat.  
  
‘Any hobbies you would like to talk about or pets or something?’ He asked. Gina merely shook her head. He smiled back awkwardly to his homeroom class.  
  
‘Well anyways, I hope you all make Gina feel welcome to East High as long as she’s here.’ He said, gesturing for her to sit down in the only empty chair in the class, which was way at the back.  
  
_Thank god, I thought I would have had to bribe someone to give me their back seat._ She thought as she walked over and sat at her desk. She could feel a few people still staring at her even as Mr. Holland continued talking at the front and a crumpled paper ball flew over and landed on her desk.  
  
_Really? Cliché much._ She thought as she picked it up and read it. There was only one word written on it:  
  
_Freak._ She turned towards the direction it came from and saw one of the girls from the hall that morning glaring at her.  
  
_Great, she’s in my class, and she hates me… Fun. This is going to be a long year…_  
  
~  
  
Gina made her way to her morning classes, somehow managing to avoid talking to anyone throughout the entire first half of the day. During Biology, she had effectively shunned her partner, not responding to any of his Ice breakers throughout the entire double period and had done the same to her desk neighbour throughout math as well, although she had taken the silence a lot more harshly than her Bio partner did. Gina could still remember the muttered words that only she could’ve picked up:  
  
_‘Guess that’s what you get for trying to befriend the freak show.’_  
  
It honestly didn’t even sting anymore. Ever since she had discovered her abilities she knew she had to keep them hidden, not give anyone any clue of what she was. Of what she could do. Or else she would spend the rest of her life strapped to a metal table in some hidden facility.  
  
_I sound like one of those conspiracists online_. But she knew she had a point. She had read on how known Helios’ were liable to disappear and even those who had tried to use their powers to help their communities were killed in cold blood by their own neighbours. Her mind wandered back to the case she had been reading up on something that happened in California. A boy of just 8 years old was seen playing with the sand at the beach with his parents. Then somebody claimed to have seen him make the sand move on its own, flying through the air to build structures. The next day, the boy and his parents were found dead at their house. And written in their blood on the walls were the words:  
  
_Man shall not bow to the Devil.  
  
And that, _Gina thought _Perfectly sums up the world for people like me._ She smiled sadly at the implication. Stay hidden or die. And even if you stay hidden, all it takes is one rumour, one slip up and you end up dead anyways.  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted by the bell ringing for Lunch. She stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder and speed walking out of the class, even as the teacher gave some last second homework. She couldn’t be there for any longer, not with all the smells and whispers, mostly about her, circulating.  
  
_I need fresh fucking air_ She thought as she ran out towards the football field. She assumed you weren’t supposed to be there during Lunch, seeing as nobody else was coming out, so she opted to hide under the bleachers. What she didn’t expect to come face to face with was a slowly waking up boy.  
  
‘Ahhhh!’ She yelled, startled.  
  
‘Ahhhh!’ He yelled, bolting up to his feet.  
  
They stared at each other for a moment, both shocked at the others presence.  
  
‘What are you doing here?’ She asked him. She was somewhat surprised at her own aggressive town.  
  
‘What are YOU doing here?’ He asked back, jabbing a finger towards her.  
  
‘The bell rang for lunch.’  
  
‘So?’  
  
So, I came to eat here.’ She said.  
  
‘Oh…’  
  
_Oh?_ She thought.  
  
‘Well then,’ He said, gesturing towards the large space. ‘Be my guest.’ And then he went back to lying on the grass. Gina eyed him warily, taking in his honey like scent and shallow breathing. It was like he had been crying.  
  
‘Are you… are you okay?’ She asked despite her better judgement. He turned to look at her and gave a small laugh.  
  
‘How did you know?’ He asked sadly.  
  
_Oh crap_ She thought.  
  
‘Your uh, your eyes were red,’ She said. ‘I thought you had been-.’  
  
‘Crying? Yeah I have.’ He said. There was a moment of silence in which he stared at the ground and she stared at him. The wind blew through the bleachers, tussling his hair, and Gina re-adjusted her hoodie.  
  
‘I’m Ricky by the way, Ricky Bowen, Junior.’ He said, still not looking up.  
  
‘Gina Porter, Sophomore.’ She replied.  
  
‘So, Gina, what are you doing coming to eat lunch under the bleachers by yourself?’ He asked, turning to look at her.  
  
‘I’m new and everyone kinda thinks I’m a freak.’ She said.  
  
‘Why?’  
  
‘I scream at some girls in the hallway.’ She said. He snorted.  
  
‘Again I ask. Why?’  
  
‘They were gossiping about me because I was wearing my hoodie.’  
  
‘Hoodies are the best clothes ever invented, people just don’t get swag.’ He said, smiling. She smiled back at him.  
  
‘Yeah, I guess so, says the boy wearing a hoodie.’  
  
‘Well of course I’m wearing a hoodie, I’m not people.’  
  
‘Then who are you if not a person?’ She asked back, giggling at the boy and his antics.  
  
‘Easy, I’m Ricky Bowen.’ He said confidently. Gina couldn’t help but laugh which of course made him laugh too. Soon all you could hear if you were on the field were two people laughing.  
  
‘Thanks for that,’ She said. ‘Its been a tough first day, and I needed a laugh.’  
  
‘It’s no problem… Hey do you wanna like, get out of here?’ He asked.  
  
‘What, under the bleachers? Sure-.’  
  
‘No I mean out of school?’  
  
‘What? C’mon dude we just met.’  
  
‘I’m not joking,’ He sighed. ‘It seems like todays been a shitty day for both of us and right now I could really do with some-.’  
  
‘Fresh air?’ She finished for him. He turned to look at her surprised, but still smiling.  
  
_He’s cute_ She thought and immediately blushed after.  
  
‘Yeah… Some fresh air,’ He stood up and dusted himself off. ‘You coming? I’m going either way but it would be a whole lot more fun with another person around.’  
  
_Oh what the hell, why not?  
  
_‘Ok, sure, but we have to be back before school ends, my mom’s picking me up,’ She said, fixing her bag to her shoulder. ‘And also, I’m not a person, people don’t wear hoodies.’ And that was the closest Gina’s ever been to telling anyone the truth.  
  
_Yeah, I’m not a person… I’m worse._  
  
‘Yes ma’am.’ He called and she could hear the smile on his face as they made their way out of under the bleachers.  
  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
They rode out of school in his car, driving through neighbourhoods in silence. Neither of them really knew what to say, the fact that they had really only just met and knew basically nothing about each other becoming more and more apparent.  
  
‘So…’ Ricky started. ‘Which school were you in before?’  
  
‘Oh I actually wasn’t even in this state before.’  
  
‘You just moved to Utah?’  
  
‘Yup, from Texas actually.’  
  
‘I don’t hear an accent.’ He said, looking away from the road a second to look at her. She glanced his way and their eyes met for a second, his honey brown meeting her dark brown.  
  
‘Was only there a year, we tend to move a lot.’ She said. She had accepted the fact that moving was just a natural part of the Gina lifecycle at that point, so she was able to keep the sadness out of her voice.  
  
‘Military parent?’ He asked as he turned into a corner.  
  
‘Nah, my mom, she works for FEMA so whenever an emergency strikes, we get shuffled around the states.’  
  
‘Ah, got it… That sounds horrible.’ He finished. She was surprised with his bluntness and let out a little laugh.  
  
‘Yeah, it is…’ She said. She turned her head to look at him but this time he was focused solely on the road.  
  
‘So… Wanna tell me where exactly we’re going?’ She asked him as they kept driving down the road, the houses becoming sparser as they went on.  
  
‘There’s a huge little pond in the woods near the gas station,’ He said, smiling. He looked at her, his eyes shining as he thought about their destination. ‘It’s really peaceful, and seeing as both our days have been chaotic, I thought we needed a bit of peace.’ He nodded to himself. Gina nodded back and looked out the window at the rapidly moving scenery. The woods weren’t extremely dense, but they were dense enough that she couldn’t peer far into it. She picked up on a few animal scents but none from some of the wilder creatures she was used to.  
  
‘You know,’ Ricky continued. ‘You shouldn’t trust strange dudes this much.’  
  
‘I don’t usually.’  
  
‘That’s good… What if I was some sort of psycho? You don’t even know if I really go to the school.’ He smirked.  
  
‘Believe me, I can defend myself.’ Even as she said it, she felt the breeze coming from the slight opening of the window pick up.  
  
‘Between you and me, I’m not very strong anyways.’ He laughed. She could feel the way his chest moved as the air was exhaled.  
  
‘Was that why you were crying? Someone beat you up?’ She asked.  
  
‘Ouch, low blow Gina.’   
  
‘I know but I couldn’t resist.’  
  
‘No, it wasn’t because someone beat me up,’ He paused. For a moment, the only sound in the car was the wind blowing outside. ‘My girlfriend, well I guess ex-girlfriend now, told me she wants nothing to do with me anymore.’  
  
‘She said that to your face?’  
  
‘Well not in those exact words but… yeah basically.’  
  
‘Do you know why?’  
  
‘…Yeah, a few reasons come to mind.’ He said. When he didn’t elaborate Gina decided to leave it at that. They had both shared a lot, considering they were both strangers. But he was easy to talk to, and honestly, she needed some time away with someone who wouldn’t judge her. They rode on, towards the pond in an easy silence.  
  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
The pond was just as beautiful as the last time Ricky had been there. The sun shone down on its water, making the surface to sparkle and shine, like a million diamonds gently shifting together. They had pulled off the road a few minutes ago and Ricky had parked a bit away.  
  
‘Wow… Its beautiful.’ Gina whispered. She brushed her hair away from her eyes as she looked at the scene. Ricky grinned at her reaction.  
  
‘People always react like that to seeing it for the first time.’ He said. He walked up to the pond and crouched down, sticking his hand into the waters. He scooped some water up and tossed it towards Gina, which she dodged.  
  
‘Is this the part where we strip to our underwear and swim?’ She asked him, as she moved over to where he was crouched.  
  
‘No, this would be the part where we lie on the grass and take a breather from life.’ And with that he collapsed onto the bed of grass, closing his eyes and humming with content.  
  
_So soft.  
  
_He could hear her lie down beside him and he smiled. The day was taking a strange turn, but he couldn’t say it wasn’t welcome. He hadn’t been expecting to skip school on the first day to hang out with some sophomore girl he had just met but what is life if not random?  
  
‘So how are you liking Salt Lake so far?’ He asked.  
  
‘I don’t really know, I’ve only really been to my house and school. And I guess here now.’ She replied. Ricky sat up and stared at her.  
  
‘What?’ She asked, wondering why he was so shocked.  
  
‘Dude, that’s so boring.’ He deadpanned. She laughed at his revelation.  
  
‘I know but what else am I supposed to do.’  
  
‘Well there are so many cool places I’ll have to take you sometime.’  
  
‘Yay, more school trips.’ She laughed. He grinned down at her. He slowly flattened back down onto the grass and sighed.  
  
‘You’re like the first person to just lay down with me here.’  
  
‘Oh yeah?’ She asked.  
  
‘Yeah, most people just wanna jump into the water or run around.’  
  
‘Well they are missing out on this killer chill vibe.’  
  
‘Definit-.’ Before he could finish his reply, a loud screeching noise interrupted, then an even louder sound of glass breaking and a crash. Ricky and Gina immediately sat up, spinning around in the direction. They looked at each other, panic written on both their faces.  
  
‘What was that?’ She asked.  
  
‘I think somebody just crashed.’ Ricky said, getting up from the grass.  
  
‘Hey wait up!’ She yelled as he made his way towards the direction of the sound.  
  
~  
  
The car was flipped over, smoke billowing out from the bottom. They could hear the groans people inside, but they couldn’t make out what they were saying.  
  
‘Gina call 991!’ Ricky yelled, as he made his way towards the car. Before he could get there however, a fire started from where the engine would be, and a little explosion occurred halting him in his steps.  
  
‘Fuck!’ He yelled. He put his hands to his head as he stared at the scene. He turned to look back at Gina, watching her speak insistently into the phone. He knew what he could do, how he could get those people out. But how would he explain? How could he explain?  
  
_Fuck, I can’t just let them die._ He thought. He thrust his palms out towards the car door, before yanking them backwards, the car door flying off its hinges. He could see the person in the drivers’ seat, a woman, coughing as the fumes blew into her face.  
  
‘Don’t worry I’ll get you out of there!’ He yelled at her as he focused his mind on her seat. He could feel it strain as he ripped it off its hinges and lifted her out of the car, placing her on the side of the road. As soon as he put her down, he felt a sharp pain in his head as the strain of what he did came back to him. He fell to his knees grasping his head.  
  
‘Ricky! Are you ok? How did you…’ Gina asked as she ran up beside him.  
  
‘There’s still someone left inside!’ He yelled back at her, screwing his eyes shut as the pain in his head became unbearable. The fire had grown to massive heights, and the smoke had grown thicker as time had passed. They could hear somebody coughing inside the car, screaming for help.  
  
_I can’t… My head, agh!_ Ricky thought as he looked on at the flaming car. Then suddenly, beside him, Gina began glowing. Well, her hands did. A soft, green light emanated from her hands, and the wind suddenly began to cease. Ricky saw the fire begin to decrease, growing smaller and smaller until finally it disappeared altogether. The person stuck in the car was still coughing and yelling for help, and Ricky knew that it was the smoke that killed more than the fire. He grasped for his power one more time, straining his mind more than he had ever done before, and he ripped the man out of the car, this time flinging him onto the grass with a lot less caution. He collapsed to the ground, his head feeling like it could explode at any moment.  
  
‘Ricky…’ He could hear Gina call his name, but he was so weak, he could barely move. ‘We need to get out of here.’ That was the last thing he heard before his sight went dark.  
  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Gina ran over to the couch as she heard Ricky begin to wake up.  
  
‘Ricky,’ She was trying to hold back tears. ‘Are you… Are you ok?’ She asked. The boy groaned, his hands flying to his head.  
  
‘My head, its killing me so bad…’ He moaned. She could see little tears crawling down his cheeks as he struggled to even breathe.  
  
_I can help with that_ She thought as she eased his lungs workload. He immediately stopped hyperventilating.  
  
‘What happened? Where are we?’ He looked around at the unfamiliar environment.  
  
‘We’re at my house.’ She said. He tried to sit up but a sharp pain in his head made him immediately lie back down again.  
  
‘Don’t try and move, you exhausted yourself back there.’ She whispered.  
  
‘Gina, how did I get here?’  
  
‘I carried you back to the car and drove here.’  
  
‘I know I’m not the heaviest person, but I doubt you could carry me alone.’  
  
‘You should know as well as I do that, I’m not alone…’ She looked at him sadly. ‘ **We’re** never alone Ricky. We have our burdens with us.’  
  
Ricky stared at her, and the house was silent for a few moments as she saw an array of emotions in his eyes.  
  
‘You too… You’re also a-.’  
  
‘Helios, but I never expected to meet one here, that’s my age.’ She said.  
  
‘I remember, glowing hands and the fire, it just… stopped,’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘That was you?’  
  
‘Yeah, it was me, and you were the one ripping doors off their hinges and saving those two people.’  
  
‘Oh god… They saw us Gina,’ His voice was laced with panic. ‘They saw us.’  
  
‘No, they had smoke in their eyes and nose, they were too busy crying and squinting to have seen us do anything.’  
  
‘How can you be sure?!’ He yelled hysterically. Gina flinched at the anger in his voice.  
  
‘Just trust me on this.’ She said. He snorted.  
  
‘We literally just met.’ He replied, his voice quiet, his head buried in his shoulders.  
  
‘Yes, we just…’ She took his hand in hers and squeezed. ‘And it turns out we have more in common than anyone else in the school.’  
  
He looked up, his eyes tinted red, dust and dirt in his hair and on his face. She smiled, his hand still in hers and he gave a squeeze back.  
  
‘I’ve never shown anyone…’ He whispered.  
  
‘Neither have I, its not exactly something that’s encouraged.’  
  
‘No, its not…’ He smiled sadly. ‘They hunt them- us, down. Like animals.’ His voice filled with anger at the end.  
  
‘They’re scared of what we can do, what we’re capable of.’  
  
‘They should be.’ He finished grimly. Gina couldn’t help but notice the remote on the coffee table start to shake a little.  
  
‘So, that’s what you can do?’  
  
‘Huh?’ He asked, confused. She pointed to the remote, still jiggling on the coffee table and he blushed. The remote immediately ceased its dance.  
  
‘Yeah, I can control things with my mind, that’s how I ripped the doors of that car.’  
  
‘Sounds… strong.’ She said. And she meant it. Her air control was powerful, sure, but limited. She wasn’t able to lift things up with air or make air blades or whatever she had hoped when she had first gotten the powers. But a solid, thick wall of air that she could move around was just as useful.  
  
‘Yeah, I guess,’ He shrugged. ‘You control fire or something?’  
  
‘I can see why you would think that but no,’ She flicked her palm, her hand glowing green briefly, and a strong gust of air blew into his face, ruffling his already messy hair. ‘Wind. I gave the fire no oxygen and it died by itself.’  
  
He glared at her and tried to pat down his hair. Then slowly and suddenly he started laughing, loudly and hysterically. Without saying anything, Gina burst into laughter too, the events of the day finally catching up to them. Neither of them were really surprised when their laughter was slowly replaced with tears. They cried loudly, like babies, Gina holding Ricky’s’ hand, one another’s presence enough.  
  
‘I never thought I would find someone like me!’ She wailed, grasping his hand tight.  
  
‘Me neither… Me neither.’ The tears kept falling, and they stayed there, crying, till they couldn’t anymore.  
  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Ricky drove home an hour later, his car smelling like smoke and forest dirt. He didn’t respond to any of the dozens of texts from Big Red, his mind occupied with recent events.  
  
_‘You need to go home before my mom gets home.’ She said  
  
‘But your neighbours?’  
  
‘They saw me dragging you in, they probably think we skipped school to get drunk.’ She said, throwing him his keys. The sound of keys rattling made his head, groaning a little. Gina winced and murmured a ‘sorry’.  
  
‘Hey… if you ever want to talk about any of this just text me.’ She gave him a piece of paper with a number on it. He looked at it and nodded, slipping it into his pocket. As he turned to lieve she grabbed his face and kissed his cheek, staring into his eyes.  
  
‘What was that for?’ He asked, blushing.  
  
‘You saved those people Ricky. You’re a hero.’ She said.  
  
_And that was it. He had gotten into his car and driven off. And later, as he stood in the shower washing off the dirt and dust on his body, he couldn’t help but think about the kiss and the number in his jean pocket.  
  
~  
  
‘On the first day Ricky? Really?’ His dad asked, as they walked into the school together. Of course the school had contacted his dad about the fact that Ricky hadn’t been present for the first day of school.  
  
‘It was a really tough morning Dad.’ Ricky muttered. His dad began to whirl on him but stopped and took a deep breathe in. The sound of air flowing into his dads nose weirdly reminded Ricky of Gina and her powers.  
  
_Aerokinesis. Power over air._ He thought.  
  
‘You just got to tough it out bud, this is your Junior year.’ His dad sighed.  
  
‘I know dad… I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.’  
  
‘It better not.’ And with that, the conversation was over, and they made their way to the principal’s office in silence. When they opened the door, Ricky wasn’t surprised to see Gina and a woman that was most likely her mom in there. The principal was mid-sentence when she noticed them.  
  
‘Ah yes, you must be the Bowens.’ The principal, Miss Gerald, stood up and extended a hand out to his dad.  
  
‘Yes, I’m Mike Bowen, this is my son Ricky.’ He said, shaking her hand.  
  
‘Sit please, I was just getting into things.’ She gestured, sitting back down. His dad sat down in the offered chair but Ricky, like Gina, opted to stand. They gave each other a quick glance, their eyes meeting. A gentle current caressed Ricky’s hair and Gina’s bracelet slowly moved up her wrist by itself.  
  
_Why hello there Gina._ He thought, smirking a little.  
  
‘As I was saying to Miss Porter, Mr. Bowen, here at East High we take skipping school very seriously. Gina here was present till Lunch when she disappeared, and Ricky wasn’t present for the entire day.’ Miss Gerard told their parents.  
  
‘Look, Ricky, Gina,’ She looked at some papers on her desk. ‘It’s the first day and I understand that you both have… issues ongoing at home, but that’s no excuse to skip school. Your education is very important to us.’ She finished.  
  
‘Yes ma’am, I understand.’ Gina nodded.  
  
‘I- uh, I understand too ma’am.’ Ricky said. The principal stayed silent, looking at both of them for a few seconds before nodding.  
  
‘Good, get to class, I need to have a word with your parents.’ She said. They walked out of the office, the principals voice gone until the door was closed.  
  
‘So, I guess that means no detention.’ He said.  
  
‘Yeah, I guess so.’ Gina laughed. He looked at her, bag in hand, her frizzy hair escaping her hoodie, her light brown skin shining under the school lights.  
  
‘So uh-.’ The bell chose to ring at that very moment, cutting Ricky off. The students that had been milling around in the halls began to move towards their respective classes and Gina gave Ricky a little smile.  
  
‘Talk later?’ She said.  
  
‘Yeah, sure.’ And with that they both went their separate ways.  
  
~  
  
‘So where were you yesterday dude?’ Big Red asked him discreetly, trying to avoid the watchful eye of their Math teacher.  
  
‘I skipped school, had to get my head in the game.’  
  
‘The whole Nini thing really got you worked up huh?’ Big Red asked. Honestly, up until that point Ricky had forgotten the whole thing with Nini that had happened. His mind was pre-occupied by something much more… Profound, than a breakup.  
  
‘Yeah, I guess.’ He said. Big Red awkwardly placed a hand on his shoulder.  
  
‘It’ll be okay dude.’ He said unsurely. Ricky snorted and shrugged the hand off.  
  
‘Thanks dude but honestly, there are more important things than Nini right now.’ He said, to Reds obvious shock.  
  
‘Really? Like what?’ He asked. Ricky’s mind flashed back to the previous day, the fire and the car, Gina’s house, the kiss, everything. He discreetly hovered his pen in his hand, his head twinging with what could only be pleasure at him using his power.  
  
_‘You should know as well as I do,’ She had said. ‘We’re never alone Ricky.’  
  
_‘Passing this class, for one.’ He said instead. Red snorted but returned his attention back to the board and the teacher. Ricky gently let the pen fall back into his fingers and began copying down the question. _  
  
_\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Gina tried to pay attention during her classes, but the events of the previous day was stuck in her head. Her powers had given her somewhat of an eidetic memory, allowing her to remember all the different scents she had smelled over the years, but at that moment in her AP Bio class, she recalled with vivid detail the previous day. How Ricky had torn of the car door and pulled the people out before collapsing. The panic she had felt when she had noticed the driver, the woman, looking their way, tears rolling out of her eyes. And how she had driven dangerously down the road as she rushed to her house, Ricky passed out in the back seat. How worried she had been as she waited for him to wake up and her intense relief when he did. The kiss, the feeling of his skin on her lips… The constant breeze that followed her around picked up a little as she remembered his blushing face.  
  
_‘What was that for.’_ He had asked. She told him it was because he was a hero and that was partially true. But really, she had felt the need to. He had cried with her, shared the pain and horror of having to hide your true self in fear for your life. She was broken out of her trance when she noticed the power point slide change. She froze as she noticed what was on the screen.  
  
It was a badge, the letters PCA inscribed on it, with an eagle’s wings spread on its sides.  
  
‘The Parahuman Crimes Agency or PCA are a section of the FBI that handle crimes done by Parahumans or Helios as they call themselves.’ Her history teacher said.  
The class was paying full attention now. Everybody had heard of the PCA. Its agents were elite, trained to fight the Helios, despite not having powers. They had successfully prevented dozens of Helios terrorism attacks. Or so they claimed. Gina knew it was somewhat correct. Half of the supposed attacks were little more than people being discovered with abilities and the government falsifying threats to bring them in. They were part of the reason so many Helios had turned on society.  
  
‘ It was introduced in 2001, when just two weeks after the nine-eleven attacks, a Parahuman by the name of Jules Hargreaves, head of the Helios Rebellion, had walked into the White House and assassinated the then President, George Bush.’  
Her teacher clicked a button on her laptop and a picture of a man was shown. Somebody in the class whimpered. The man had a large scar running down his face and was smiling cruelly into the camera. He had blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, with a dark, menacing look about them.  
  
‘Um, Mr. Hebert?’ A girl form the front row called out, her hand in the air.  
  
‘Yes Hailey?’  
  
‘How did he just… walk into the White House and kill the president?’ She asked. Some other students nodded at her question murmuring amongst themselves.  
  
‘It is not yet confirmed but his power is believed to be the inability for others hurt him.’ Her teacher said.  
  
_That’s news to me_ Gina thought as she paid more attention to her teacher. The whispers in the class increased till another student put their hands up.  
  
‘Sir you mean, bullets don’t hurt him at all?’ He asked. Mr Hebert shook his head.  
  
‘No, I mean, its physically impossible for people to aim to hurt him,’ He changed the slide again and this time is was a scene of a fight between some known Helios members and the PCA agents. In the centre of the photo stood Jules Hargreaves, his hands in his pockets as people around him fought. _  
_  
‘Now, this is all still speculation, but it is the widely believed assumptions of his powers.’  
  
He changed the slide and the image of a woman came up.  
  
‘This, is the Head of the PCA, Carmen Costa-Brown.’ He said. The woman had a grim face, her skin tanned.  
  
‘She’s been the head since 2002 and has led over a hundred operations.’ Gina made sure she remembered the face. She had searched her up before but it always good to refresh the memory of the woman aiming to lock up her entire race.  
  
_Who knew what would unite America would be racism_ She thought dryly as Mr Hebert continued to lecture the students on the workings of the PCA  
  
~  
  
The events of yesterday with Ricky had made her forget the actual reason she hadn’t skipped the second half of the day. As she stood in the cafeteria, her tray of food, she could feel a few eyes on her and could hear a few of the whispers about her. She looked around for somewhere, **anywhere** , to sit the wasn’t filled with chatting students.  
  
‘Gina!’ She heard someone call her. She looked over to see Ricky in his denim jacket and jeans gesture her over to his table where he sat with another kid with ginger hair. She walked over and placed her tray on the table.  
  
‘Hey, Ricky.’ She said.  
  
‘Gina.’ He smiled. She smiled back, feeling her bracelet gently moving up and down her wrist without anyone touching it. She sent back a little breeze to touch his cheek, causing him to blush a little. The other dude sitting there cleared his throat, breaking the trance they were in.  
  
‘Oh uh, Big Red meet Gina. Gina meet Big Red.’ He said, introducing them.  
  
‘Big Red?’ She asked as she sat down. He rolled his eyes, as if he had heard that question a million times, which he probably had.  
  
‘Big Red the third actually. It’s a family name.’ He shrugged. Gina simply nodded. Weirder things had been seen.  
  
‘So, when did you guys meet?’ Big Red asked, looking between them.  
  
‘Don’t tell anyone but I actually skipped school to hang out with her yesterday.’ Ricky nodded.  
  
Big Red made an ‘ahhh’ sound, nodding his hair in realisation.  
  
‘So, you’re the one stealing my best friend.’ He declared. Gina burst out in laughter even as Ricky playfully shoved Big Red.  
  
‘C’mon dude I’ve known her for like a day.’ He said to his friend. Red just shrugged his shoulders.  
  
‘It’s not like that, we’re just… friends.’ She told him. Red eyed both of them suspiciously, before shrugging again.  
  
‘It doesn’t matter anyways, I’m the one who knows all his secrets,’ He laughed. ‘Like how when he was in fifth grade, he got so scared of going up for the spelling bee, he threw up in his mouth and swallowed it down- oh, oops.’ He laughed nervously as he finished, glancing Ricky’s way.  
  
‘Red?’ Ricky simply said, his eyes screwed shut.  
  
‘Yeah dude?’  
  
‘I’m going to kill you.’ Ricky said, squirting milk in Red’s direction. Luckily for him, he ducked just in time, the milk landing on the guy behind him.  
  
‘Hey!’ The dude called, now covered in milk. Ricky suddenly looked alarmed, grabbing napkins from their trays.  
  
‘Oh my god, I’m so sorry EJ-.’ He said extending the napkins out for him.  
  
‘Shut up! Idiot…’ The dude, EJ, said, grabbing the napkins and walking away. All the while Gina and Big Red were laughing at the boys’ plight.  
  
‘Dude, that was hilarious!’ She whispered at him, watching EJ walk away.  
  
‘For you, but for me that was…’ He trailed off as he watched EJ walk over to some girl, wrapping her in a hug and kissing the top of her head.  
  
‘Terrible.’ He finished quietly.  
  
‘Ricky, you ok?’ She asked, watching his face go crestfallen.  
  
‘Yeah. No…’ He turned to face her. ‘You know that girl I told you about, my ex?’ He asked. She nodded. He pointed over to where EJ stood, the small brown-haired girl still in his arms.  
  
‘That’s her.’ He said simply.  
  
‘Oh.’ She said, not knowing what else to say.  
  
‘Yeah, Oh.’ He grabbed his tray and walked over to the return station. Gina looked at Red who looked back at her with a ‘What do you want me to do?’ look. She sighed and grabbed her tray too, catching up to him as he walked out of the cafeteria.  
  
‘Want to go to the field?’ She asked, bumping his shoulder. He stayed silent.  
  
‘We can go under the bleachers, you can show me what you can do?’ She suggested. She could see the smile start to grow on his face  
  
_Got him  
  
_‘You know, we should really stop talking about this so openly.’ He looked around at the few students mingling in the hall.  
  
‘Oh them?’ She looked around. ‘Don’t worry about that they don’t hear anything.’  
  
‘What? How?’ He looked confused. Gina grinned, a sly look in her eye.  
  
‘You know why you can’t hear anything in space?’ She looked at him for confirmation. He nodded slowly, still confused. ‘Well that’s because there are no oxygen particles for the sound to move through. So I simply cut off the air moving our voices around and voila, stealth.’ She grinned. Ricky looked at a teacher standing at the far end of the hall and took a deep breath in.  
  
‘Your class sucks literal balls!’ He yelled at him. The teacher gave no reaction, not even looking up from his phone. Ricky grinned at her.  
  
‘Wow, how do you figure all this stuff out?’ He asked. They continued walking through the hall, nearing the football field.  
  
‘Well, when I got my powers I started really researching anything to do with air, that is when I found out it was air that I had power over.’ She said. He made a hmmm sound, nodding his head.  
  
‘I tried to research mine but all I came up with was a bunch of comic books and novel mumbo humbo.’  
  
‘So you haven’t experimented with what you can do at all?’ She asked, pushing open the door leading out to the field.  
  
‘No, I have, just not a lot.’ He said, heading towards the bleacher area. They made their way beneath the seats, the shady area where they had met.  
  
‘Do you have an idea of how your power works though? What you can do, what you can’t?’ She asked.  
  
‘I have an… inkling of an idea.’ He sat on the grass.  
  
‘So…?’ She gestured for him to continue with her hand before also sitting down on the lush grass.  
  
‘I can lift things with my mind as long as I can lift them physically already,’ He said. She nodded, understanding so far. ‘But things that are a bit too heavy, they strain my mind. Like those people or the car door, the headache was caused by me using my power on them.’  
  
‘That makes sense, the brain is a muscle for your power and muscles tear when overused.’ She said.  
  
‘Exactly. But I can control multiple things at once with no strain, so long as they’re something I can lift myself.’  
  
‘Dude, that’s incredible.’ She said, stunned. He looked at her surprised.  
  
‘Really?’ He asked. She scoffed and kicked his foot.  
  
‘Hell yeah, if anybody was shooting at you, you could totally just stop all the bullets.’ She exclaimed. Maybe it was the wrong thing to say because she saw his face fall.  
  
‘Shooting at me huh?’ He said, kicking at the ground with his toe. ‘We’re never going to be normal again are we?’ He asked.  
  
‘We ARE normal Ricky.’ She said. ‘We’re just not normal in the human sense. Good thing we’re not human.’ She finished.  
  
‘Yeah, but we’re always going to be hunted,’ He sighed, looking up at her. ‘Don’t you wish we could live life without always looking over our shoulder.’ He asked. Gina didn’t have an answer. Sometimes she wished she never got her powers, that she had remained normal and outgoing. But other times she loved them more than anything.  
  
‘Gimme your hand.’ She said, standing up, patting herself down. Ricky stood up too, giving her his hand with no reluctance.  
  
‘Trust me ok?’ She asked. She could feel the air gathering in front of her, melding together into a solid form. She gently climbed up on the platform of air she had made and looked back. Ricky looked shocked, looking at her seemingly standing on nothing. She smirked.  
  
‘Ta-da!’ She smiled.  
  
‘You can fly?’  
  
‘Well no, not really, but I can stand on air platforms and move them around so yeah basically.’ She shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. ‘You getting on?’ She asked.  
  
‘Oh how could I not.’ He laughed, stepping onto the platform. He looked down at the grass beneath them, still surprised at the amazingness of it all.  
  
‘Hold on tight!’ She told him before starting to move the platform forward. Slowly but surely, they began gliding around the little area under the bleachers, Ricky giving little cheers of delight every time they made a dangerously sharp turn.  
  
‘This is amazing!’ He yelled, smiling radiantly. Gina grabbed his hand, liking her fingers with his.  
  
‘We’re in this together Ricky, ok?’ She said, looking into his eyes. He paused for a moment, smile still etched on his face, before nodding back at her.  
  
‘Together.’ He whispered. They rode around till lunch ended, both heading their separate ways. But his words stuck in her head, as did the feeling of his hand in hers.  
  
_Together  
  
_\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
After that, they were inseparable. The two of them texted all the time, hung out all the time, at the pond, under the bleachers during lunch, or at Ricky’s house. Sometimes Big Red would be there too, making them have to tip toe around the whole Helios issue. But slowly Gina was being integrated into Ricky’s life.  
  
‘Dude, I think I’m over Nini.’ Ricky had said suddenly while playing video games with Red. Red immediately paused the game, giving Ricky the most surprised face he had ever given anyone.  
  
‘Wait, what? Literally two months ago you were convinced you guys were getting back together, what happened?’ He asked. Ricky shrugged, looking sheepishly at his controller.  
  
‘Gina happened.’ He admitted. After they had met, his entire world had changed. She was like him, and she was really the only person who could get him, all of him. And she was beautiful and funny and smart. Ricky couldn’t go a day without thinking of her, or this kiss on the cheek she had given him.  
  
‘Ahhhh, so another girl has replaced Nini.’ Red deadpanned.  
  
‘What?! No, it’s not a replacement dude. Gina is special to me, in different ways than Nini ever was.’ He said.  
  
‘You love her?’ Red asked.  
  
‘I don’t know man, but she’s really amazing and special to me.’ He said, embarrassed. Red grinned at him. He knew how hard it was for Ricky to open up about his feeling to anyone.  
  
‘And anyways, I think I’m going to try and be Nini’s friend again.’ He said. The decision had been made a few days ago actually when he had texted her. A simple ‘hey’ but sometimes simple worked best.  
  
‘Really? That’s going to be awkward.’ Red laughed. Ricky shoved his friend, Red falling off his bean bag chair still laughing.  
  
‘No it wont dude, we were friends before all… this, anyways.’ He said.  
  
‘I don’t know dude, exes being friends is a rarity.’  
  
‘Yeah well, we’ll hopefully both be dating different people by then.’ Ricky said. Red shrugged and picked up the controller, unpausing the game and immediately killing Ricky.  
  
‘Hey! Dude no fair.’  
  
~  
  
The next time Ricky saw Gina was when she showed up at his house, carrying a batch of cookies.  
  
‘Gina, still baking I see.’ His dad had said as she walked into the house. Gina and his dad had immediately hit off after he had realised, she wasn’t just a school skipped but actually a funny girl. Also after he had seen her forcing Ricky to study, something nobody had been able to ever do.  
  
‘Yes I am Mr. Bowen, the grind never ends.’ She laughed, as she set down the tray of cookies and shrugged off her coat.  
  
‘Please, call me Mike.’ He laughed. Ricky rolled his eyes at his dad.  
  
‘I told you dad, nobodies going to see you as the ‘cool parent’.’ He said, using finger quotes.  
  
‘Don’t worry Mike, your cool to me.’ Gina said.  
  
‘I knew there was a reason I liked you Gina.’ His dad said. Ricky shook his head exasperated.  
  
‘Traitor.’ He whispered to Gina, causing her to laugh. She waved at his dad as they headed up to his room. The door opened and closed without anyone touching it, and Ricky collapsed onto his bed. Gina looked around, eyeing the few clothes on the floor with approval.  
  
‘I see you’ve been cleaning up.’ She said. Ricky groaned, his face covered by his pillow.  
  
‘Yeah well, I had to after you threatened to form a tornado in my room next time.’ He said. She laughed as she sat down on the end of his bed.  
  
‘You don’t even know if I can really do that.’ She said.  
  
‘Well, I’m not tempting the goddess.’  
  
‘Did you see the news?’ She asked, gravely. He sat up and nodded. A man in Salt Lake had been outed as Helios, and PCA were sending agents over to hunt him down.  
  
‘Yeah, such bullshit.’ He said. She nodded.  
  
‘He didn’t even do anything.’ She said quietly.  
  
‘Seems like my moms coming to town then.’ He whispered. Gina looked at him, eyebrows scrunched.  
  
‘Your mom?’  
  
‘She works for the PCA, sorry I never told you.’ He said.  
  
‘Oh…’ She said, thinking about how a PCA agent would react to a Helios son. ‘Is that why she’s always away?’ She asked instead.  
  
‘No, her and my dad got a divorce. She got a promotion and wanted to move, he didn’t, they started fighting a lot.’ He revealed. She nodded her head in understanding.  
  
‘You know I actually got my powers during one of their fights.’ He said, laughing a little.  
  
‘Really?’  
  
‘Yeah, they were screaming downstairs and I just wanted to go down there and grab them up and throw them out, and then suddenly everything in my room started floating, from the bed to the carpet.’ He said.  
  
‘Wow’ She gasped, imaging the scene.  
  
‘And then it all came crashing down, and the screaming stopped. They came to check on me and I lied, said it was nothing, but I knew it was me.’  
  
‘Most people seem to think powers come from moments of stress, and I would agree with them.’ She said. He looked at her.  
  
‘Yeah?’  
  
‘Yeah, like my powers…’ She began, then stopped, looking conflicted.  
  
‘You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.’ He said. She frowned and shook her head.  
  
‘No it’s okay,’ She said. ‘Me and my mom, we had a huge argument about us moving again and I had been sent to my room.’ She fiddled with her bracelet as she told the story. She had a distant look in her eye, like she was relieving the scene again.  
  
‘When I went up there, it was like I couldn’t breathe, like all the air had been sucked out of me and the room.’ She scrunched up her eyebrows at the memory. ‘And then, I was fine, only now I could feel and smell the air, moving around the house and near it.’  
  
‘How didn’t you freak out?’ He asked.  
  
‘Oh I did, I didn’t talk to anyone for days as I tried to get used to it. My mom beat herself up about it, thinking it was her fault. Somehow it kinda was I guess.’ She said, her voice going quiet at the end. Ricky took her hand in his.  
  
‘Hey, everybody has family issues.’ He said, trying to comfort her.  
  
‘I know its just… We’ve never really been the same since, me and my mom.’ She revealed quietly. Ricky wrapped her in a hug, and she melted into it, her face in the crook of his neck.  
  
‘Thank you Ricky.’ She whispered. He hugged her tighter. As they began to separate, they caught each other’s eye. His eyes flicked down toward her lips and she could feel her heart begin to speed up. When he began to lean in, she closed her eyes, tilting her head to the side. And when their lips met, it was like magic. He could feel a breeze pick up in his room, ruffling his hair and the curtains, while various object began to shake in the room. The kiss lasted only seconds, but it felt like hours and when they separated, still staring into each other’s eyes, the room was silent, only the sound of breathing could be heard.  
  
‘I like you Gina.’ Ricky said, breaking the silence.  
  
‘I like you too Ricky.’ She replied. And maybe neither realised, but their hands stayed interlocked the rest of the evening.  
  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
The doorbell rang and Ricky’s heart sank to his feet. He glanced nervously at his dad and his dad gave him a smile of encouragement back.  
  
‘It’s just for a couple of days Ricky.’ His dad said as he went to open the door.  
  
Standing on the porch was his mother, Lynne, holding a large, brown suitcase. Ricky watched silently as she hugged his dad, listening to their greeting and small talk before she finally looked around and saw him.  
  
‘Ricky!’ She exclaimed, dropping her suitcase and rushing him, arms spread. Ricky wrapped his arms loosely around her, not responding to any of the excited whispers. She pulled away and looked at him.  
  
‘Are you feeling okay?’ She asked, looking into his eyes.  
  
‘I’m fine Mom, it’s just been so long.’ He said quietly, trying to avoid looking at the badge that was stitched proudly onto her blazer. The letters ‘PCA’ stood out, their gold colour a stark contrast to the dark material.  
  
‘I’m here for a few weeks, so we’ll have all the time in the world to catch up.’ She said, smiling. He gave her a smile back, but it didn’t reach his eyes. She still looked worried but let him go, following his dad to the guest room. Ricky’s body sagged, the tension draining out of it as his parents went out of sight. He pulled his phone from across the table, the device flying into his waiting hands. He opened up his messages and immediately tapped on Gina.  
  
_Ricky: The wolf has arrived.  
  
Gina: Wolf? She’s your mom Ricky.  
  
Ricky: She’s the enemy  
  
Gina: Yeah, I know but she still birthed you  
  
Ricky: What does my heritage have to do with anything. She might have given birth to me but she abandoned me to hunt our kind down.  
  
Gina: She loves you Ricky, you know that.  
  
Ricky: Do I?  
  
Gina: You’re so frustrating  
  
Ricky: You know you love it lol  
  
Gina: Wanna meet up?  
  
Ricky: Never thought you would ask, when and where?  
  
Gina: Right now good?  
  
Ricky: Anytimes good. Pond like usual?  
  
Gina: I was acc thinking… Wanna go on a little field trip?  
  
~_  
  
‘When you said field trip, I thought out of town, not junkyard.’ Ricky said, glaring at the laughing girl beside him. After he had picked her up, she had guided him towards the local dump, a large, closed off area full off broken cars and other discarded trash. They had easily snuck in, the security laxer than school security and were now somewhere deep withing the area.  
  
‘Trust me, you’ll enjoy this.’  
  
‘What exactly are we doing Gi?’ He asked, puzzled. She smiled slyly and gestured around at the various pieces of junk.  
  
‘I was thinking,’ She said, tippy toeing to kiss his cheek. ‘That we test that power of yours.’  
  
‘Here? In a junkyard?’ He asked, laughing. She shrugged.  
  
‘Why not? Working hours are already past, so nobody will be around to see.’ She said. Ricky grinned at his girlfriend, her face mirroring his.  
  
‘So… How do we do this?’  
  
‘Ok, so you said you can only lift things that physical you can lift right?’ She asked. He nodded, watching her as she went and picked up various scraps of metal.  
  
‘So, we’re going to test just how many things you can lift at a time.’ She said, dropping a piled of twenty-something odd scraps.  
  
‘Sounds easy enough.’ He smirked. He cracked his fingers and did some stretches, to Gina’s amusement.  
  
‘It’s not like you’re actually going to be using your muscles you know?’ She said watching him.  
  
‘Before any exercise, one must stretch.’ He said. She stuck her tongue out at him. Ricky laughed at her, grinning cheekily. He shook his hands and focused on the objects in front of him.  
  
_I got this._ He thought, spreading his palms out in front. Slowly, the objects started lifting off the ground, one at a time. Soon there were a dozen scraps in the air, the rest rattling on the floor. Ricky could feel his head begin to strain, a little warning twinge of pain before all the objects came falling down. He immediately put his hands on his knees, drawing in shallow gulps of air. He had started sweating without noticing. He could hear Gina clapping beside him.  
  
‘You nearly got them all up?’ She said, patting his back. He smiled weakly at her.  
  
‘How many were left?’ He asked.

‘Nine, I think.’ She said. He gave a little fist pump.  
  
‘Wanna try again?’  
  
‘You know I do.’  
  
They continued for the better part of an hour, Ricky trying to lift all the metal scraps into the air, getting better results each time. By the end of it, he had lifted them all up, all twenty-one scraps.  
  
‘I think your power works like a muscle.’ Gina said after he had finished.  
  
‘What do you mean?’ He asked her, panting as he lay on the ground.  
  
‘ I mean, the more you use it and stretch it, the stronger it becomes,’ She gestured towards the pile. ‘When we started you could only lift twelve, but the more you did it, the more you could lift.’ She said.  
  
‘Yeah… yeah that makes a lot of sense.’ He said, his eyebrows up in surprise. He sat up and grabbed her face, kissing her soundly on the lips. When he let her go, her cheeks were tinted red.  
  
‘What was that for?’ She asked.  
  
‘For being smart and helping me out.’ He said. She laughed but leaned down, capturing his lips again. They spent the next hour working out their lips instead.  
  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Gina and Ricky decided they would come back to the Junkyard and train their powers whenever they could. And if the free, alone time for kissing was a factor in that decision neither of them said it out loud. Gina waved as Ricky drove away in his orange car after another workout/date at the yard, watching as he disappeared around the corner. She smiled and walked into her house. Her mom was sitting on the couch, a glass of wine in her hand, watching television. She looked at Gina as she walked in.  
  
‘Where have you been?’ She asked.  
  
‘I was out with Ricky.’ Gina said, removing her shoes. Her mother scoffed and took a sip.  
  
‘Ricky… You skip school and now your dating delinquents.’ Her mother muttered. Gina choose to ignore her comment and instead headed to her room.  
  
‘I wasn’t done talking to you!’ Her mother yelled at her. Gina paused midstep and turned back around.

‘Yes?’  
  
‘Don’t take that tone with me young lady!’ Her mom exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at her.  
  
‘I’m not…’ Gina began but stopped.  
  
‘Look Gina, I don’t know what’s gotten into you since we moved here, skipping school and-‘  
  
‘That was one time!’ Gina yelled. She had to quickly move her head to the side as her mother’s glass flew past her and hit the wall, shattering.  
  
‘Don’t you dare!’ Her mother said coldly. Gina could feel the tears begin to well in her eyes, along with a sudden and swiftly growing anger in her chest. She stared at her mother, the tears now falling, an intense hatred in her eyes. Her mother stared back, her anger fading, her body sagging as she realised what she did. She turned away from Gina and continued watching TV. Gina stormed into her room, a gust of wind slamming her door shut. She could hear her mother get up from the couch, heavy footsteps drawing nearer. When her mom tried to open the door, she slammed it shut with another bout of air.  
  
‘Open this door right now Regina!’ Her mom yelled, banging on the door. Gina cut off all the sound in her room, the banging ceasing, and kept the door shut. Eventually she saw her mothers shadow leave, and she let go.  
  
_I hate her._ She thought, her heart clenching.  
  
~  
  
Gina walked through the hallway, her hand in Ricky’s. They had decided to spend their lunch together roaming the corridors, talking about anything and everything. She had opted not to tell him about what had happened between her and her mother last night, and how she had to wake up early and walk all the way to school to avoid any sort of interaction.  
  
‘And that, Gi, is how I learned that doing a move you only saw on YouTube is a bad idea.’ He said, laughing. She laughed too, her attention returning to the curly haired boy. They turned the corner.  
  
‘I still have the scar on my arm, you wanna se-.’ He stopped midsentence, his attention taken away. Sitting by a locker, her head buried in her arms, was Nini. His ex. He let go of Gina’s hand and walked over to her, Gina following behind him. He gently put a hand on the girl’s shoulder, causing her to look up startled. Her eyes were red Gina noticed, and she saw water on her cheeks.  
  
‘You okay Nini?’ He asked gently. The girl wiped at her eyes and nodded.  
  
‘You sure? Cause you don’t look alright?’ He continued. Nini gave a little laugh.  
  
‘EJ… He dumped me.’ She whispered. Ricky rubbed the girls shoulder and Gina could feel something stir in her chest.  
  
_So that’s jealousy_ She though, watching the scene quietly.  
  
‘I’m so sorry.’ Ricky said awkwardly.  
  
‘Oh really? After covering him in milk, I was sure you would be ecstatic hearing we broke up.’ She said, her tone shifting, becoming more heated. Ricky removed his hand from her shoulder and shook his head.  
  
‘That was an accident Nini.’ He said. She scoffed and started to stand up.  
  
‘Really Ricky? Sure it was,’ She muttered. ‘You know what, can you just leave me alone and go back to your sophomore body count.’  
  
‘Woah! Nini that’s uncalled for, she’s my girlfriend!’ He yelled, shocked.  
  
‘Is that what we’re calling it now? Everyone knows people only date their underclassmen for one thing and it isn’t love.’ She said, brushing past them. She stopped suddenly and turned back to them, glaring.  
  
‘Is that why you couldn’t say you loved me? Because I wasn’t a living, breathing sex doll for you to use?’ She said coldly. Ricky took a step back, and Gina could see the hurt in his yes as he looked at the brown-haired girl. Nini rolled her eyes at him and began walking away again. Gina focused, gathering the air around into a solid platform, flinging it out at Nini’s legs. The girl yelled as she was swept off her feet, floating a few meters above the ground before crashing down. Gina let out a little vindictive laugh as she stared at the girl writhing in pain on the floor before she was dragged away by Ricky.  
  
‘Why did you do that?!’ He practically yelled as soon as they were far enough away. Gina laughed at his furious expression.  
  
‘Oh come on Ricky, you heard what she was saying about you, about **_US_**.’ She said.  
  
‘That doesn’t mean you should clear her out.’ He replied furiously.  
  
‘Why not?’ She asked.  
  
‘What do you mean why not?’  
  
‘We have these powers for a reason Ricky,’ She said, stopping him with a gesture before he interrupted. ‘Look, they don’t care about us, nobody does, we have to protect ourselves.’  
  
‘Gina, you can’t just-.’  
  
‘If I don’t, who will? Your mom left you Ricky, she left, and your dad is a shell most of the time!’ She yelled, shaking him. ‘They are meant to be there for YOU and they aren’t, so if you wont defend you, and I don’t who will?’ She asked. He stared at her silently, his face grim, before he nodded slowly.  
  
‘You’re… You’re right,’ He sighed. ‘Nobody is gonna be there for us but us.’ He said, a steely look in his eyes. He grabbed Gina’s hand, interlocking their fingers and bringing it up to kiss it.  
  
‘Thank you Gi.’ He said, and then they set off to journey the corridors, as if nothing had happened in the first place.  
  
~  
  
Gina knew as soon as she returned home, all hell would break loose. Her mother didn’t disappoint.  
  
‘You need to learn some damn respect girl!’ She yelled at Gina, wagging her finger aggressively. Gina stared at her mother, an intense anger burning in her heart.  
  
‘Or what?’ She asked coldly. Her mother paused mid-rant, to stare at Gina, shocked.  
  
‘Pardon me?’ She said.  
  
‘I said or what? What will you do to me hmm?’ She asked. Gina was surprising even herself, she had never spoken to her mother like this, EVER.  
  
‘I should smack the nerve out of you!’ Her mother raged.  
  
‘I DARE you.’ Gina said. She could feel the currents at her fingertips, blowing aggressively as she got angrier and angrier. Her mother didn’t waste any time, slapping Gina sharply. Gina held her cheek, the sting of the slap burning. She stared at her mother, who looked just as shocked as she did.  
  
_She… She slapped me_. Gina thought, the shock quickly fading replaced with intense anger and rage.  
  
‘How dare you.’ She whispered. Her mother looked apologetic, looking at Gina and her hand, trying to form words.  
  
‘Gina I- I didn’t, I mean I would never-.’ Her mother began.  
  
‘How DARE YOU!’ Gina yelled. The wind began picking up in the house, blowing some paper towels and magazines off the tables. Gina’s mother looked around, her apologetic expression quickly changing to one of confusion. To one of FEAR.  
  
‘Gina, please I-.’ Her mother began. She never got to finish. Gina flung a wall of solid air at her mother, slamming her into the wall, hard enough to crack it. Her mother stuck to the wall for a second, before falling face first into the table, causing it to spill its contents. Gina stared, as blood slowly began to pool around her mother’s head and torso before taking a step back.  
  
‘What did I- What did I just do?’ She whispered, as her mother stayed on the floor, motionless, more and more blood pooling around her body.  
  
‘Mom?’ No response. She didn’t dare go closer, instead running to her room, grabbing her phone and hoodie, and running out the door. She quickly dialled 911 and told them her address and nothing more before calling Ricky.  
  
‘Ricky? Are you home? Can you meet me at the junkyard, I did something really stupid…’ She said into it, as she pulled up her hoodie and began running down the street.  
  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Ricky quickly tied his shoelaces, summoning his phone to him from his desk. He pocketed it, his mind still occupied by his call with Gina.  
  
_She sounded so scared._ He thought, remembering her words.  
  
_‘… I did something really stupid.’_ She had said. She had been acting strange the entire day, quieter than usual and then there was the whole Nini thing. If he was honest, it had scared him. He had heard stories of how some of the more notorious Helios criminals had ended up in the Safehouse, the Helios prison. It had always started with stories of using their powers for petty revenge, then lead to more dangerous and stupid acts. But he had agreed with her, they did need to protect themselves, just not so blatantly.  
  
‘Ricky!’ He heard his mom call for him from downstairs.  
  
‘Yeah?’ He replied. There was no answer. He hurried to put his hoodie on, untangling one of the sleeves as he slid his arms in. He patted himself down, forgetting something.  
  
_Phone, wallet… Keys!_ He thought, turning to summon his keys from a different pair of jean pockets. At the same time, his door opened.  
  
‘Ricky have you seen-.’ His mother started but stopped as the keys flew into his waiting hand.  
  
‘Mom!’ He yelled in surprise. They stared at each other in silence, the keys on Ricky’s hand jingling slightly.  
  
‘Ricky… What was that?’ She asked quietly. He pocketed his keys, trying to look anywhere but her eyes.  
  
‘Look mom, there’s an emergency I really need to go…’ He muttered, pushing past her and heading down the stairs. He stopped as she grabbed his arm.  
  
‘Ricky!’ She yelled. ‘Those keys… they flew into your hands, how?’ She asked. He could see the gears turning in her head and it would only be a little longer till she accepted the inevitable truth.  
  
_Need to get away NOW!_ He thought. He tried to pull his arm away, but her grip was strong.  
  
‘It was just a magic trick mom.’ He said, trying to think of a way to get out of this situation.  
  
‘Show me.’ She said.  
  
‘What?’  
  
‘Show me the magic trick.’  
  
‘Mom…’ He looked into her eyes. ‘Please.’ He whispered. She looked at him sadly, before wrenching his arm up and slamming him into the wall.  
  
‘If you had told me as soon as this happened, we could’ve handled it Ricky, we could’ve gotten you registered.’ She whispered as she held him against the wall. She almost sounded like she was going to cry.  
  
‘Mom, please, you can just let me go, nobody will have to know.’ He said as best as he could with his face against the wall.  
  
‘I can’t do that Ricky, you’re… You can’t be treated as my son anymore, you’re one of them.’ She said. Ricky had heard enough. He grunted as he used his power to push her away and into the wall. He fell to the ground and down the stairs. He quickly got up and made a beeline for the door.  
  
‘Stop!’ His mom yelled, the clicking of a gun accompanying her demand. Ricky froze, his hand on the doorknob.  
  
‘Lynne? Ricky? What’s going on?’ He heard his dad yell from the kitchen. He walked in on the scene, his mom aiming her gun at him and Ricky staring fearfully at her.  
  
‘Did you know?’ His mother asked his dad.  
  
‘Know what?! Why are you pointing a gun at our son?!’  
  
‘That he was a parahuman, a Helios.’ His mom said. Ricky could feel his heart drop as his dad turned to stare at him, shocked.  
  
‘Ricky?’ His dad asked.  
  
‘Dad… I wanted to tell you.’ He said. His dad took a step back.  
  
‘Ricky, get on your knees now, or I will be forced to use force.’ His mom demanded.  
  
‘Lynne…’ His dad took a step toward his mom. She quickly aimed at him too, switching between them.  
  
‘Don’t interfere with this Mike!’ She yelled.  
  
‘Mom, please…’ Ricky whispered. He could see her falter for a second, before the gun levelled his chest again.  
  
‘On. Your. Knees.’ She yelled. Ricky tried not to show his hurt, the pain of rejection.  
  
_‘If you won’t defend you, and I don’t, who will?’_ Gina had said. The hurt was replaced with anger and he stared defiantly at his mom.  
  
‘No! I won’t kneel to you, just because of what I am.’ He said defiantly.  
  
‘Ricky!’ His mom yelled.  
  
‘No!’ He flung his arm out, and three-gun shots rang out. The first bullet he deflected at the wall, leaving a small hole in it. The second he barely managed to move, as it hit the side of the door beside him. The third bullet he deflected back towards her. Only, it never flew back straight, but veered to the left. His dad yelled out in pain as the bullet hit him right in the neck, a small burst of blood blossoming on his shirt.  
  
‘Mike!’ His mother yelled, rushing to his dad.  
  
‘Dad!’ Ricky yelled. He started to make his was towards him but was stopped by the gun aimed at him.  
  
‘Monster’ His mom whispered, tears in her eyes before turning back to his dad, cradling his head in her lap, as his breath got shallower.  
  
Ricky ran out as fast as he could. He got into the car, his hands shaking as he started the engine and drove as fast as he could to the junkyard.  
  
~  
  
‘Gina!’ He yelled out, the sun setting into the horizon.  
  
‘Ricky!’ He heard her call back, before she came around a pile of trash. The crashed into each other, hugging each other fiercely. It was only then that Ricky realised that they were both crying.  
  
‘Gina, what happened?’ He asked. She tried to wipe her eyes, but the tears kept coming.  
  
‘My mom… I think I killed her Ricky… We were fighting and…’ She tried to talk over the tears.  
  
‘Shhh It’s okay… My dad, I might have killed him too.’ He whispered.  
  
‘What? What happened?!’ Gina asked.  
  
‘I’ll tell you later, first we have to get out of here. Agents will be swarming the city looking for me.’ He said, grabbing her hand and running.  
  
‘Where are we going?’  
  
‘Anywhere but here.’  
  
‘Wait!’ She yelled. He stopped and looked back at her.  
  
‘I can make a wind wall, fly us out of here.’ She said.  
  
‘Everyone will see us.’ He said.  
  
‘Ricky, we’re fugitives now, we have no secret anymore.’ She said.  
  
‘No, I’m a fugitive, they don’t know about you yet.’ He said, shaking his head.  
  
‘They will soon, the doctors, they’ll know…’ She whispered.  
  
‘Are you sure Gi?’ He asked. She nodded her head.  
  
‘Ok… ok.’ He sighed. Gina quickly formed a platform of air, helping Ricky get on.  
  
‘Hold on, we’ve got to go fast.’ She told him before bursting into the air. She could feel him nearly slip off, so she blew a strong gust of wind at his back, keeping him on. They could hear the sirens coming from the city below, one police and the other ambulance. Ricky stared down at the ever-retreating town.  
  
‘What do we do now?’ He asked, quietly as they ascended higher up. He could see some people on the street pointing, camera’s shining up.  
  
‘Now? Now we find Jules Hargreaves.’ She whispered, the wind carrying the words to Ricky, as they flew away from their future.  
  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
**_50 years later…  
  
_**Big Red the third gently tapped the side of his glass, the noise of the room slowly dying down.  
  
‘Have I got your attention?’ He asked, to the room. When there was no reply he nodded.  
  
‘Good. I’ve got something important to say.’ He said. He looked at his wife, Ashlyn, and she grabbed his hand and squeezed.  
  
‘It’s been twenty-one years since I became Head of the PCA and now, on the day of my retirement, I have to say, I feel satisfied with my life’s work.’ He said to the room. He could see some agents looking at him with adoration, their eyes gleaming with pride.  
  
_That’ll be gone soon._ He thought.  
  
‘For forty years I’ve worked with the PCA, helping capture Parahumans and lock them away for the good of the society,’ He waited for the cheers to die down before continuing with his speech. ‘And now, at the end of my career, I am allowed to take a breath and tell you the truth… This was all a front.’ He said. The room looked at him confused, some people whispering to those beside them. He put up a hand and the conversations died.  
  
‘For forty years, I have worked with my very good friend, Richard Bowen, who you know as the head of the Parahuman Rebellion, in finding a way to save all those men, women and children, locked in Safehouses all over the nation.’ He knew he got their attention now, some agents looking confused, some angry and some scared.  
  
‘For the last twenty years, we have slowly replaced most of the guards and security at the Safehouses in the US, with our men and today, we let all those prisoners free.’ He laughed as he looked on at the fear across the agents faces.  
  
‘Don’t bother calling anyone, by now they would have all been transported away, to the rebellion headquarters where they will be safe.’  
  
‘Put your hands up!’ He heard an agent yell, pointing his gun at him. Red laughed.  
  
‘You know the best thing about being best friends with two of the most powerful Helios in the nation?’ He asked. Suddenly the windows on the flow burst open, and Red and Ashlyn began floating out, bullets flying at them but not hitting. He gave a mini salute to Richard, who was sitting comfortably on a wind wall with Gina, both their hair silver.  
  
‘We have our very own get away drivers!’ He yelled at the agents, who probably couldn’t hear him over the gun fire. He laughed as they flew away, the wind blowing around them gently.  
  
‘Hey bud,’ Ricky said. ‘Hey Ashlyn, hope your comfortable?’ He asked.  
  
‘As always Richard.’ She said, laughing as her feet dangled through the air.  
  
‘We did it Ricky.’ Red said, putting his arm around his best friend.  
  
‘We did it.’ Gina muttered looking back at the trio. She smiled, her wrinkled face bursting with joy.  
  
They looked on at the horizon, the sun setting, casting a glow on the city of Chicago. And they flew, into a new world…  
  
**_Fin…_**  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  



End file.
